>Somebody stole my heart from the balcony

>

Drooling over something that looks nice, beautiful and neatly kept is something that I could engross myself for hours. This adoring indulgence started during my childhood time. Ever since I knew to ride a bicycle and found the way to tour my sleepy hometown, the keropok lekor land, I started to spend time in philatelic shops or book stores and treated myself with something interesting like stamps, coins and other odd and collectible items.

My hobby turned into a fiery passion when one day I received an offer letter and went to seek more wisdom in Bangi. I am not ashamed to admit – it was my first time ever I step out from the keropok lekor land and missed my early morning ‘nasi dagang’ breakfast ritual. That was very hard for me. Eighteen years of ‘ikang aye’ affection. For the first time, I missed ‘pesta main pantai’ as well. Even though the yearly event was not as happening as it used to be, but the idea of having a convoy with the whole kampung folks to join the other pilgrims, staring at the moon on a crowded beach was so melancholic. If that was not enough to torture me, Friday is a working day in the new and remote place. I started to miss my blissful siesta before the Friday prayer. Come on guy, get a life!

And the new passion started to develop. Every morning before my first lecture, I will sit in the balcony of my strategically located room at Kamsis Ungku Omar and started to drool on some beautiful beings that passing by, unwary to my scrutinizing eyes. It was not a perversion but utmost admiration. I watched them with my ‘teropong iman’ of course. God really creates them very beautiful for us to mesmerize upon and I got hooked. Pulcherrima! Sometimes the stake out really put me into trouble for missing out one or two lectures. But if you have more than 100 course mates with the lecture hall a size of half a football pitch, it was a circus, and nobody will ever notice you for missing in action. I missed them all, even the clowns and jokers.

The best part was, I bagged my precious trophy from that balcony. The one and only. I am still drooling at my trophy whenever there is a celestial sign or I see right constellations in the sky or the moon is full.